Improvement in rolling-mills



' Sh l. MOORE, W. GEORGE & A! L. HLLEY. Bolling-Mills. N 145 225,Patented 020.2,1873.

I 4 ,eets -Sheet2. .I. MOORE, W. GEORGE &. A. L. HOLLEY.

Rolling-Mills.

I Patented Dec.2,1873i I I 4Sheet:s--Sheet4. MOORE, W. GEORGE 8:. A. L.HOLLEY.

Rolling-Mills.

Patented Dec 2,1873.

UNITED STATES JAMES MOORE AND WILLIAM GEORGE, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, AND ALEXANDER L. HOLLEY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPRGVEMENT IN ROLLING-MILLS.-

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,225, dated Deccmber2, 1873; application filed October 26, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES MOORE and WILLIAM GEORGE, of the city ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, and ALEXANDER L. HOLLEY, of thecity of Brooklyn and State of New York, have jointly invented certainImprovements in Rolling-Mills, of which the following is a full,clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawmg.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a three-high rolling-mill with itshousings A B, rolls E F G, couplings I J K, and its pinions and theirhousings H. The general features of this mill will be understood bypersons skilled in the art.

Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of the mill through the rolls; also, thetables L L for raising and lowering the piece of metal to be rolled. Thetables are shown in their lower positions at L L, and at their upperpositions at M M. They may be raised by means of hangers N N and thechains 0, operated by a hydraulic cylinder, or by any suitable means.The arrangement of these tables forms no part of our present invention.Fig. 2 shows pulleys and belts for changing the position of the middleroll, which will be further referred to.

Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the rolls, showing the bolster O,which holds one journal of the middle roll, (a similar bolster holdingthe other end;) also, the guides at a.

Fig. 4 is a plan of one of the roll-housings.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the rollhousings, showing thebolster C that holds the middle roll, the screws D D that hold and raiseand lower the bolster, and other parts to be referred to.

Figs. 6, 7, S, and 9 are details of parts for supporting the rolls inthe housings.

The subject of our invention is a three-high rolling-mill, with a middleroll adapted to be moved up and down and fixed in any desired positionrelatively to the other rolls. To this end the said middle roll'has itshearings in bolsters, each supported by a pair of screws provided at topwith worm-wheels and rotated by a worm-shaft common to both. Thewormshaft is rotated in either direction, when required, by means of afriction-clutch, which, while capable of imparting any necessary andproper force to the worm-shaft, will slip in the event of meeting withundue resistance, which might otherwise cause the destruction of somepart of the mill. The fore-plate and catchingplate are arranged to riseand fall with the movable roll, so as to maintain a uniform heightrelatively thereto. The bolsters of the middle roll are further providedwith stops, which limit the vertical movement of the tables by which theplates are elevated for feeding, so as to cause the said plates to bebrought to a uniform position relatively to the middle roll.

In the ordinary three-high mill all the rolls are fixed at definitedistances apart. In order to reduce a piece of metal it is passedbetween the bottom and middle rolls, as at b, Fig. 1; then returned.between the middle and top rolls, as at (I then turned half over andpassed through c; then returned through f, and so on, each timereceiving the reduction due to the fixed sizes of the grooves. Theremust be a groove for each pass.

Our improvement consists, rst, in making the middle roll movable, and inapparatus for moving the middle roll, for the purpose of changing thesizes of the spaces between the rolls, so that a piece of metal may bepassed twice or more through each groove, receiving a regulatedreduction at each pass through the same groove. By'these means thenumber of grooves for a given reduction may be decreased. The top andbottom rolls bear, respectively, against the top and bottom of thehousing, and are secured as shown, or in any suitable manner. Onejournal of the middle roll is held by the bolster O, Figs. 3 and 5,which is fitted to slide vertically in the housin g, and which forms thenut of the two screws D and D. The other journal of the middle roll isheld by a similar bolster. The bottoms of the screws D D rest on thebottom of the housing. The shoulders g g of the screws, Figs. 6, 7, and8, bear against the top of the housing by means of the bearing-pieces hi. The screws are therefore fixed vertically, but by revolving them inone direction the bolster O, carrying the middle roll with it, will bescrewed up, and by revolving them in the opposite direction the bolsterC and the middle roll will be screwed down. The screws are made heavyenough to resist the upward and FFIE.

downward thrust of the roll. lVe prefer to counterweight the middleroll, so that the screws will have less work and wear in moving it. Thearrangement for this purpose is shown by Figs. 1 and 5. Thecounter-weight j, by means of the lever k and the rods 1 and l, whichare notched under the bolster at n n, balances, as far as may bedesired, the weight of the bolster and middle roll.

The following device may be employed for holding down the screws D D: Inorder to get the screw D, Fig. 7, into its position in the housing, thehole (1 in the housing must be as large as the greatest diameter of thescrew. in order to prevent the screw from rising in this hole, theabove-mentioned shoulder gbears on the bearing-piece h, which is shownin plan by Fig. 8. In order that the bearing-piece may be slippedlaterally in place after the screw is inserted, the notch h is formed init. The notch h is then filled and a complete bearing is made for theshoulder of the screw by the insertion of the block 1'.

The operation of rolling is as follows: Fi 1 represents rolls forreducing twelve-inch steel ingots to six-and-one-half inch blooms. Ourimprovement is obviously applicable to rolling plates, bars, and manyother shapes. The middle roll having been screwed up by the meansdescribed, so that the groove 1), which is twelve inches wide, shall beeleven and one-half inches deep, the twelve-inch ingot is passed throughand reduced to eleven and onehalf by twelve inches. The middle roll isthen set by the screws, so that the groove (1 shall be eleven inchesdeep, and the ingot is returned through it and reduced to eleven bytwelve inches. The middle roll is then set so that the groove 1) shallbe ten and one-half inches, and the piece is passed through it andreduced to ten and one-half by'twelve inches. The groove (Z is then setto ten inches depth, and delivers the piece ten by twelve inches. Thepiece is then turned on edge, the groove 0 is set to eleven and one-halfinches in depth, and the foregoing operations are repeated till thepiece is reduced to ten by ten inches. Similar operations reduce thepiece to any desired depth in the remaining grooves. 'lhe amount of thereduction and the number of grooves may obviously be varied indefinitelyto suitthe material and shape required.

Plain rolls may be employed for producing plates, and closed grooves maybe used for bars of various shapes.

Our improvement further consists in the combination of paired screws,with a bolster at each end, for moving the middle roll vertically. Uponthe top of each screw D D there are fixed the worm-wheels Z Z, Figs. 4,5, and 6. These worm-wheels are engaged by a worm, Y, Fig. 4, which isfastened to' the horizontal shaft X, Figs. 1 and 4t. Aworm-wheel, Y, onthe same shaft (Fig. 1) engages the wormwheels at the other end of themiddle roll. The screws D and D are cut right and left, respectively. By revolving the shaft Y in one direction, all the four screws are thusso rotated that the bolsters and middle roll rise. By revolving theshaft Y in the other direction, the bolsters and the roll fall. Apulley, Q, Fig. 2, on the engine-shaft drives the counter-shaft p bymeans of the belts S S and pulley m. Two pulleys, P, on thiscounter-shaft drive the pulleys U and U, Figs. 1 and 2, (which revolvefreely on the shaft X,) by means of the straight belt R B, Fig. 2, andthe cross-belt T T, so that the pulleys U U, Fig. 2, are constantlyrevolved on the shaft X in opposite directions, but without moving theshaft X.

In order to revolve the shaft X in one direction, so as to move themiddle roll up, the friction-clutch WV, Fig. 1, which is fastened by aspline on the shaft X, is pressed against the pulley U. Theconstantly-moving pulley U thus rotates the friction-clutch W and theshaft X, and the screws D D and so raises the middle roll.

To lower the middle roll, the clutch W is thrown against the otherpulley, U, which constantly revolves in the opposite direction, and thusrotates the shaft X and the screws in the opposite direction. The clutchWV is moved laterally on the shaft for this purpose by a lever, V, Fig.2, or by any convenient means. X workman can thus, by the movement ofhis hand, rapidly set the middle roll in any required position, and thevarious-required positions may be designated by an index-plate fastenedto the housing, and a pointer fastened to the bolster.

The shaft X may obviously be rotated and reversed by belts and fast andloose pulleys, as used in planers and other machine tools, or by otherequivalents of the friction-clutch.

Our improvement further consists in a device for adjusting the foreplate and catching plate or guides a a, Fig. 3, where they are shownfastened to the lugs q g on the bolster O, by which means they rise andfall with the middle roll, and thus preserve a uniform position withreference to the middle roll. If these plates were fastened to thehousing in the usual manner, the roll would, at its highest and lowestpositions, be too far above or low them for the best entrance anddeliver" of the piece that was being rolled.

()ur improvementfurth er consists in the combination of stops with thebolsters that hold the middle roll and the tables, Fig. 2, that aise andlower the piece being rolled, whereby the tables always rise to auniform position with reference to the middle roll.

If the tables M M, Fig. 2, always rose to a fixed height, suitable todeliver the piece to the rolls or receive it from the rolls when themiddle roll was in an intermediate position, then the tables would betoo high or too low to receive or deliver the piece to the bestadvantage when the middle roll was in its lowest or highest positions,respectively. We there fore make projections r r on the bolster C, Fig.2, heavy enough and in suitable positions to stop the table in itsupward motion. When the roll F is in its highest position the tableswill rise to their highest position, and the tables will always rise tothe same position relatively to the position of the middle roll.

We claim as our invention- 1. In a three-high rolling-mill, a movablemiddle roll, adapted to be moved into and set at various positions, withreference to the top and bottom rolls, While the mill is running, forthe purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the paired screws D D and bolster U with each endof the roll F, for the purpose of moving and holding the said roll, asdescribed.

3. In a rolling-mill having a movable roll,

JAMES MOORE. WM. GEORGE. A. L. HOLLEY.

Witnesses:

JOHN R. WINCHESTER, Tnos. H. STINsoN.

